Verse 16.22

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 16.22:

एतैर् विमुक्तः कौन्तेय तमो-द्वारैस् त्रिभिर् नरः ।
आचरत्य् आत्मनः श्रेयस् ततो याति परां गतिम् ॥ २२ ॥

etair vimuktaḥ kaunteya tamo-dvārais tribhir naraḥ |
ācaraty ātmanaḥ śreyas tato yāti parāṃ gatim || 22 ||

etaiḥ–from these; vimuktaḥ–fully liberated; kaunteya–O son of Kuntī; tamo-dvāraiḥ–gates to hell; tribhiḥ–three; naraḥ–a man; ācarati–practises;ātmanaḥ–for himself; śreyaḥ–auspiciousness; tataḥ–there-after; yāti–he attains; parām–the supreme; gatim–destination.

O son of Kuntī, a person who is liberated from these three gateways to hell acts for the welfare of his own self. By this he attains the supreme destination.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, “Becoming free from these three gateways to darkness, a person should act for the upliftment of his soul. By doing so, he will achieve the supreme destination.” The import is that by practising religiosity, or dharma, and by following a regulated life as a means of self-purification, one attains kṛṣṇa-bhakti, which is the supreme destination. The scriptures have described karma and jñāna as the means and the end, but their real intention in doing so is to establish that it is only by maintaining a proper relationship with pure work (karma) and pure knowledge (jñāna) that the jīva can attain fearlessness in the form of pure, spiritual existence. This is the mukti that is a maidservant of Bhakti-devī.”